Legal Theft Project: Problematic Parent Issues (445 words)

04Jan

She shut the computer with a furious snap. Lizzy couldn’t believe it. She was so angry she was starting to literally see red.

“I don’t like that look.” Lizzy looked up to see Chris standing in the doorway of the living room. “That look never bodes well for anyone. Do you want me to come in and listen to the rage rant, or should I just back away slowly and try not to be hit by projectiles?”

“It’s just Dad.” Lizzy said simply.

“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry.” Chris came quickly into the room, sitting down on the couch next to her. She curled up into his side, and let him rub soft comforting circles on her back. Lizzy felt the familiar anger fade away, leaving her with the bland lack of understanding that always came out of interactions with her father. He was half her genes, right? He’d been in her house, in her life, everything, for the first eighteen years of her existence. In fact, when she was eighteen years old, she probably would have called her father one of her favorite people in the world.

But over the last eight years, something had gone wrong, and neither of them were sure what or how or when exactly, but now every interaction left them angry and confused and not sure why they couldn’t interact the way they used to. Why couldn’t they just be a happy family again?

She hadn’t realized that she’d been rambling aloud until Chris gave her a little squeeze and said “I know. I know. It’s tough.”

“Sorry,” Lizzy sat up and blinked hard to prevent her tears from forming in her eyes. “I know you have your own Daddy issues. It’s not fair for me to ramble on about mine.”

Chris laughed. “My daddy issues do not cancel out your daddy issues. And you can ramble as long as you want as long as you do not expect me to solve your daddy issues, because I think if I have proven nothing else in my life, I’ve proven that I have the wrong ideas when it comes to endearing oneself to their paternal parental unit.”

There was a long minute of silence before, “Damn. I got nothing. I think you win.” Lizzy laughed and gave a little fist pump while Chris rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s go get ice cream. Problematic paternal parental units aren’t as important when you’ve got moose tracks.”